Abstract
This investigation examined the agreement between children and their parents on measures of depression and aggression. A total of 120 inpatient children (ages 7–13) and their mothers and fathers independently completed self-report and interview measures that focused on the children's dysfunction. Children and their parents differed in their ratings of each symptom area, with children providing significantly less severe ratings than their parents. Children who met DSM III criteria for major depression or conduct disorder were significantly higher in their ratings of depression and aggression than children without these diagnoses, as reflected in both child and parent ratings. Child and parent ratings correlated in the low to moderate range on measures of children's symptoms, whereas mother and father ratings correlated in the moderate to high range. The correspondence between children and parents did not vary as a function of symptom area (depression and aggression) or assessment format (self-report and interviews). The results suggest that children are able to rate the severity of their dysfunction, although they tend to provide lowerbound estimates than do their parents.
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This investigation was supported in part by a Research Scientist Development Award (MH00353) and a grant (MH35408) to the senior author from the National Institute of Mental Health and by a Clinical Research Center Grant for the Study of Affective Disorders (5 P50 MH30915-05) from the National Institute of Mental Health. The authors are grateful to Sherry Wilson, Elaine Meyer, Noelle Conover, Rosanna Sherick, and the clinical research team of the Child Psychiatric Treatment Service.
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Kazdin, A.E., Esveldt-Dawson, K., Unis, A.S. et al. Child and parent evaluations of depression and aggression in psychiatric inpatient children. J Abnorm Child Psychol 11, 401–413 (1983). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00914248
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00914248